Did you drain the block at the end of last year? Stored outside? Are you
where it freezes?
Yes, yes, yes.

Late model Chevy v6s and v8s have a bad habit of cracking inside the lifter
valley when the block freezes.
Could I see this by removing the valve covers or does this require
removing the head? (I'm not sure what a lifter valley is).

Symptoms are good compression on all cylinders, runs fine, but gets water in
the oil. A pressure test of the cooling system would be a good thing to try
Those are my symptoms. Lots of water, very fast. New oil run 1 minute
comes out looking like a milkshake.

This doesn't sound like it's heading toward anything I can do myself.
I'll see what I can do about a cooling system pressure test. Anything
else to check before taking to a shop? Might as well ask: if it's a
cracked block what's it gonna cost me to get fixed?

Thanks for the reply,

Terry

On Sat, 08 May 2004 18:10:52 GMT, "Lawrence James"
wrote:

Did you drain the block at the end of last year? Stored outside? Are you
where it freezes?

Late model Chevy v6s and v8s have a bad habit of cracking inside the lifter
valley when the block freezes. I think the castings are thinner there.
Symptoms are good compression on all cylinders, runs fine, but gets water in
the oil. A pressure test of the cooling system would be a good thing to try
but it is a pain on a boat as you have to clamp plugs in the 3 of the hoses
going to the exhaust and the line coming up from the steering cooler. Then
figure out how to attach a radiator pressure tester to the remaining exhaust
hose. Other possibilites like bad head gaskets or bad intake gaskets
usually also include poor running or low compression on one or more
cylinders. Usually the water leak from a bad gasket will be a lot slower so
another thing to look for is the oil level being noticably higher on the dip
stick. If it looks like its a lot higher then you have a major leak, more
likely a cracked block.

wrote in message
.. .

I checked out my Volvo 4.3L (275 hours) for the first time this
season. Ran the engine for a few minutes and checked the oil. It was
milky white, apparently mixed with water. The last thing I did at the
end of the season was change the oil, haven't run it since then.

Changed the oil, ran for a minute, checked again. Milky white.

My guess is something froze over the winter. Is there anything I can
check that I could possibly fix myself, or should I just bite the
bullet and take to a mechanic?

A friend suggested a running compression test. It's too dark now, I'll
do that in the morning.

Any other diagnostic suggestions?

Thanks,

Terry